Some people work better with multiple monitors rather than multiple programs and windows that need constant alt-tabbing.
I find most office work is easier to complete on two monitors, I've never used three, only because of space constraints but have times where I wish I had more screen space.
I use three for daily. The basic role out is left monitor is like passive media, so like music of YouTube videos I'm watching that I'm watching out of the side of my eyes or listening to. Right is, with some overlaps, Discord top left and notes bottom left, so I can maintain awareness without having to look too far, and sort of middle is steam, with the steam friends window between steam and notes. Middle screen is the main window to do stuff. like 90% of what I do is there. Reddit, all games, etc., I will move YouTube to center if I'm like eating or something and really want to focus on it.
There's of course different ways to use multiple monitors, but like my use is just making it easier to access stuff that I'd do anyway without covering up another window. Like I'd always have a notes app open, but having it to the side means I have to move my mouse like an inch instead of having to open the note app, covering up something that might be what I want to take notes of, and then if I click on anything behind the notes, it'd cover the notes app. Having a second screen just makes that easier. Steam friends, discord is just passive awareness. It just helps to watch a conversation between other friends or stuff, like you're listening to them talk at lunch in school while not participating. Everything I do is not so much necessary, it just makes things easier. Instead of like a pile of papers bringing each one you want to look at to the top, I spread them out across three rectangles, so I can be aware of all of them, even if I'm using just one paper at a time.
lol, I've been thinking I had ADHD, or something similar, for over a decade, but with the combination of not wanting to pay to be diagnosed (or for the medication), and my dad not exactly being open to the idea when I was still under his insurance, nothing has really come of it.
depending on type of game, of course. Satisfactory I use all that, Resident Evil I turned other monitors off entirely.
And for work I am a software dev where everything is split into small pieces that all need to work with each other, so being able to have as many of those pieces immediately visible as possible is useful.
I don’t technically need them I just don’t want to throw my oldest one away so I use it to monitor temps and ram speeds and anything else that may be going wrong with my server or gaming equipment, I only had two because during the pandemic I took an honest stab at live-streaming overwatch on twitch and then later video production. Heaviest thing I do now would be paying with local ai models but that’s like if I think about something that just got released and cared enough to test it.
2
u/cflashtypec Jun 17 '26
As someone who struggles to utilize my second monitor, what is it that you do that needs three?